Academy for Educational Development
Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Project, 1995
In the first three years of Expeditionary Learning’s implementation in schools, The Academy for Educational Development (AED), conducted a three-year qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the ten original demonstration schools located in five cities.  The study found that Expeditionary Learning had successfully helped demonstration schools develop a strong sense of mission and purpose and transform curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the classroom. The study found significant results in seven areas:
- Curriculum
- Instruction, and assessment
- Student work and achievement
- Student engagement and motivation
- School organization
- Professional development
- Parent and community involvement.
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
AED found evidence that Expeditionary Learning had a significant impact on the way teachers taught and the way students learned. Teachers reported that their classroom practices changed significantly including collaborating with other teachers in planning and teaching, systematically addressing content and skill learning in designing expeditions, and developing clear criteria for assessing student work.
Student Work and Achievement
The report found that students produced high quality work, often higher than they
had ever attained in the past. Teacher and student
interviews and surveys indicated that quality work was often the result of
extended time for project work and the use of critiques and revision. Teachers
reported that students’ final products often met not only school district but also
professional standards. Students likewise reported that the quality of their work
and work habits had improved.
Student Engagement and Motivation
AED found a strong level of student engagement evident in Expeditionary Learning schools. Students described the personal and social relevance of the curriculum and reported frequent and positive experiences working in groups with their peers, interest in their school work, and respect from teachers and peers.
The study reported that teachers saw heightened student motivation as one of the most positive outcomes of teaching through learning expeditions. The teachers reported a high and growing level of student involvement in generating projects and questions and in pursuing ideas on their own.
School Organization
The study found that schools had made significant changes in their structure and organization in order to support Expeditionary Learning’s approach to teaching, learning, and professional development:
- creating new schedules to allow for long periods of uninterrupted work and teacher planning time,
- developing multi-year connections between teachers and students, and
- implementing inclusion and heterogeneous grouping.
Professional Development
AED reported that teachers in all schools rated all of the Expeditionary Learning professional development experiences very highly, and several teachers pointed to experiences that profoundly changed their thinking. AED found that the process of planning, implementation, and reflection on successes and what needs improvement is a powerful professional development tool. In AED surveys, teachers said that Expeditionary Learning’s program of staff development improved their ability to:
- teach students of different ability levels in the same class;
- be more of a guide or facilitator in helping students discover what they are supposed to learn, rather than an expert providing the "right information";
- assess students academically and socially.
Parent & Community Involvement
AED found that parent involvement in children’s education increased through participation in student exhibitions and performances as well as parent conferences structured around portfolios of student’s work. AED also found that outreach to the community increased because of the positive relationships established through expeditions. The majority of parents testified that they are more involved in their children’s schooling and that they participate in assessments, come to final exhibitions and performances of students’ work, and become more familiar with their own children’s work. In surveys parents indicated they were pleased that their children liked school and learning.
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